NewsOnF1 - The Real Race - Round 12

Gee, I was right! But I was also wrong. Hockenheim made some reputations and wrecked some. With no less than seven different vehicles in the top ten the driver element really played a part in today's event.

Michael proved yet again that he is a master at learning a new track. Ralf, Who was hopelessly outclassed by Button when a new layout figured in the equation at Indy, performed superbly in taking second, over ½ a second ahead of Juan Pablo.

As expected there was a stratification of players, with some surprises and a few anticipated results. Michael and Kimi performed as expected, as did Fisichella Frentzen, Irvine and Webber. The surprises were Montoya, Massa, Salo and Button.

I guess I have to be satisfied with picking the first (Schumacher) and last (Webber – I did suggest that Alex would fail to qualify). Mark is now the only driver with a perfect win rate, having taken his 12th Qualifying Hero podium.

I had high hopes for Salo here, he didn’t deliver, I had no faith in Panis and he did come through, like Ralf.

The German GP 'Also Ran' Award.

Alex Yoong failed to qualify (yet again) and must be a huge embarrassment to the team and the sponsors. I guess he can at least tell his grandchildren that he was once a F1 driver and spent most of a season doing it. He might just forget to mention just how bad he was. But he wasn’t quite bad enough to win another Also Ran at Hockenheim.

Coulthard and Villeneuve weren’t bad enough either, close, but no gongs for them this time. Only because there is a much worthier candidate this round.

If Michael came in over ½ a second behind Rubens he would be a shoe-in. Why should our ex-Qualipoints leader be treated any differently. He shouldn’t and he won’t be. After a string of successes on one podium Juan Pablo Montoya has moved to another, the middle step on the Also Ran stage. Perhaps he was just jealous of Ralf’s success in this forum

The German GP Qualifying Heroes

1. Mark Webber, 2. Eddie Irvine, 3. Ralf Schumacher

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The Real Race - Drivers Standings - Round 12

Grid	Driver	Car	Team	Wins	Losses	Best	QualiPoints
1	M. Schumacher	1	Ferrari (B)	9	3	1	80
2	R. Schumacher	5	BMW WilliamsF1 (M)	5	7	2	48
3	R. Barrichello	2	Ferrari (B)	3	9	1	59
4	JP. Montoya	6	BMW WilliamsF1 (M)	7	5	1	79
5	K. Raikkonen	4	McLaren Mercedes (M)	8	4	4	22
6	G. Fisichella	9	Jordan Honda (B)	8	3	6	2
7	O. Panis	12	BAR Honda (B)	6	6	7
8	J. Trulli	14	Renault (M)	8	4	6	1
9	D. Coulthard	3	McLaren Mercedes (M)	4	8	2	18
10	N. Heidfeld	7	Sauber Petronas (B)	10	2	5	2
11	J. Villeneuve	11	BAR Honda (B)	6	6	9
12	T. Sato	10	Jordan Honda (B)	3	8	12
13	J. Button	15	Renault (M)	4	8	6	1
14	F. Massa	8	Sauber Petronas (B)	2	10	7
15	H. Frentzen	20	Arrows Cosworth (B)	11	1	10
16	E. Irvine	16	Jaguar Cosworth (M)	7	5	9
17	A. McNish	25	Toyota (M)	1	11	10
18	E. Bernoldi	21	Arrows Cosworth (B)	1	11	12
19	M. Salo	24	Toyota (M)	11	1	8
20	P. de la Rosa	17	Jaguar Cosworth (M)	5	7	11
21	M. Webber	23	Minardi Asiatech (M)	12	0	18
22	A. Yoong	22	Minardi Asiatech (M)	0	12	19

QualiPoints are awarded in the same way points are awarded to the top 6 drivers in a race. (i.e. 10, 6, 4, 3, 2,1)

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